Oh shit, September is looking like a big month for band battling. The Beatles Rock Band is due to arrive on 09.09.09, so you just know that Activision wasn't going to let a little thing like the most influential rock and roll band coming out with a game get in the way of their making money. Yes, shipping to stores on 09.01.09 will be the aptly named Guitar Hero 5. Holiday season starts earlier and earlier every year, and it's starting to piss me off.

Not only was the news GH5 would be dropping a week before Harmonix's golden child revealed today, but Yahoo! Music and Gamespot also broke a dozen or so new bands that will contribute to the rock simulator:

Kings of Leon
Tom Petty
Bob Dylan
Johnny Cash
Santana
The White Stripes
Vampire Weekend
Beastie Boys*
Coldplay*
Duran Duran*
Gorillaz*
Jimmy Eat World*
Muse*
The Raconteurs*
The Rolling Stones
Band of Horses*
Blink-182*
Blur*
Bush*
Darkest Hour*
Iron Maiden*
KISS*
Wild Cherry*

(* denotes newly announced band)

Well, I'm still quite a bit underwhelmed, but I think that's largely due to the Guitar Hero franchise not being nearly as entertaining in its last few iterations. Maybe this is the game that gets me back into the game. Or maybe I still won't give a damn. KISS helps, but I'm not sure how much. Guess we'll all just have to wait and see.